Stealth photography

Former isle residents Ray Potes and his brother David return home this week as part of a San Francisco collective of documentary photographers whose work is featured in a triennial publication called Hamburger Eyes.

'Tomorrow + Yesterday'

Featuring photos from Hamburger Eyes magazine:

» Place: ASWS Studios, 3624 Waialae Ave., Suite 201

» Time: 7 to 10 p.m. Friday

» Admission: Free

» Call: 732-2300

The name is inspired by an old Looney Tunes cartoon about a couple of starving guys stranded on a desert island who eventually see each other as a hamburger and a hot dog. The magazine -- 4 years old, with a recently released ninth issue -- prides itself on featuring "the best in stealth photography." You won't find any hoity-toity fashion or carefully prepared studio snaps here.

"The level of photography pretty much covers the whole spectrum," said Ray Potes via cell phone from the Bay area. "Sometimes we get the shots while walking, going on errands, and something catches our eye. For some of us it's work, like one of our guys went to Guatemala for three months to shoot five different stories. One went to a photojournalism magazine in Europe, and we got one of the others."

The Potes will help their friends here put up a one-night-only photo installation at the former workspace art gallery space in Kaimuki this Friday.

Originally from San Diego, the Potes family moved to Oahu in 1992 (their father born and raised here) when the two boys were teenagers.

While finishing high school at Pearl City High, Ray kept in touch with his SoCal friends, taking up photography to document his "life in paradise" to share with his buddies.

After graduation, Potes traveled frequently between Hawaii and San Diego until joining his brother David in San Francisco two years ago.

Potes actually started Hamburger Eyes here while performing freelance commercial work, and decided to join David because he wanted to take the photography "to the next level."

"With my brother also into photography and the production aspects of it, we borrowed money to start up the magazine proper."

So far, all the black-and-white photos published have been darkroom-developed. "Some people have the erroneous idea that we're elitist," Potes says. "It's not that I'm opposed to digital. Sure, it's going to change as more professional photographers turn to that format. Our magazine only prints in black and white because of cost."

COURTESY OF HAMBURGER EYES
Former island resident Ray Potes snapped off a candid photo of a couple dressed in Superman costumes, both feeling rather super.*

COURTESY OF HAMBURGER EYES
An arcane-looking dragon handle knife in San Francisco's Chinatown.

COURTESY OF HAMBURGER EYES
A giant frog is a diner's lone companion, as shot by Andrew Stark.

COURTESY OF HAMBURGER EYES
The cover photo of the latest issue is by Boogie of a gypsy family in Belgrade, Serbia.